It may well be that the old saying is correct, that the world’s smallest club is made up of people who believe they get paid too much.
Even if that’s true, however, a second tiny group would have to be made up of people who can find others who agree they get paid too little.
But Great Bend city employees have joined that group, at least in the eyes of the Great Bend City Council.
This week the council approved a city employee salary resolution after comparing city employee paychecks to those from other communities of comparable size around the state.
City Administrator Howard Partington noted that the city staff has spent a great deal of time on the study that led to the resolution, but he also noted that there is no quick fix to solve the salary issues for city workers. “We can’t solve all of this in one year,” he commented.
The resolution that was approved by the city council leaves the minimum salaries at their current levels and creates increases in the maximum levels. That opens the way to improvements to city pay over the next few years, the city administrator explained.
“This gets the top range closer to other cities.”
Approving this resolution was just one step in the continuing process to improve the city’s pay package, Partington emphasized.
And this effort is involving all levels of city employment. “ We went through every single position in the city.”